


Off the Grid

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Falling Skies
Genre: Episode: s05e05, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 12:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4435091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because Ben and Matt are smart enough to realize that an effective scouting trip doesn't last for over a day without contact, and we really need more Ben and Matt this season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Off the Grid

One of the cool things about having a brother with super hearing is that it’s easy to tell him things without everyone else hearing.  Ben is a little bit ahead of him, facing away from him, and Matt wants to talk to him, but he doesn’t want everyone _else_ to know he wants to talk to Ben. 

“I’m worried about Hal and Dad,” Matt says as quietly as he can.  He can barely hear himself.

Ben nods, just a little, and Matt knows that he’s heard him. 

“It’s weird that they haven’t reported back yet,” Matt is still talking super quietly.  “We’ve been here for _hours_.”

Ben nods again.

“We should find them,” Matt says.

Ben shrugs a little, and he taps the side of his leg.  That means that he wants Matt to make _the_ excuse so they can talk alone. 

“I gotta pee,” Matt says, speaking loud enough that Anne and Cochise can hear him.  That’s the excuse they both decided would work best in most situations.

“I’ll take him,” Ben interjects quickly, like he’s worried that a bunch of people are gonna wanna take Matt to pee.

“Be careful,” Anne says.

Matt nods as Ben claps his shoulder and they head into the woods.

“It is weird,” Ben says, squatting down he’s at Matt’s eye level.  “I don’t think we can go after them yet, though.”

“What if Hal and Dad are hurt?” Matt asks.  All the times he’s seen Hal and Dad beat up or shot or just laying there flash before his eyes.  Plus Mom.  Dead.

“I’m scared about that, too,” Ben says, nodding reassuringly, “but we gotta focus on getting Weaver back.  The two of us going off on our own wouldn’t help anyone.”

Matt kicks at the ground.  “They might need us.”

Ben pats his arm.  “Weaver’s the one who told us that they went off scouting.  If anyone knows exactly where they went to scout, it’s him.”

“What if he lied?” Matt asks quietly.  “What if they’re in danger?” 

Matt knows everyone thinks he’s dumb, and he is if you’re comparing him to Ben and you wanna talk about nerd stuff, but he understands cause and effect.  Hal and Dad left right after Dad kicked Pope out and almost got himself shot. 

It doesn’t take a Ben to guess something bad might have happened.

“Then we definitely have to wait until we get Weaver back.  Or else we won’t know where to start looking for them,” Ben says.  “They could be anywhere for any reason.”

“I hate just sitting around,” Matt says.

“It sucks,” Ben agrees, “but we’ve gotta be smart about this.”

“Why?” Matt says petulantly.

“Because if I let you get hurt, Dad’ll kill me himself,” Ben says, nudging Matt.  “If they left us without telling us, there had to be a really good reason.”

He hates being left alone, and now Hal and Dad just… left him.  Them.  Whatever. 

“That just means that they’re probably in more danger than we are,” Matt says glumly.  Especially because Dad has been so weird lately. 

“As soon as we get Weaver back, I promise, we’re going to find out what happened to Dad and Hal,” Ben says.  “And we’ll get them back.”

“What if he lies again?” Matt asks because everyone lies to him and treats him like he’s a little kid, except Ben.

“Then, we will annoy the hell out of him until he tells us the truth,” Ben says.

“You can be very annoying,” Matt says, nodding.  This is a good plan.

“Hey!” Ben exclaims.

Matt just shrugs.

“No running off without me,” Ben says seriously.  “If we run off, we do it together.”

“Okay,” Matt says.  Someone’s gotta be the brains of the operation.  Matt can be the muscle.

“We should get back.  Your bladder is not big enough for you to be peeing this long,” Ben says. 

“Hey, I’ve got a huge bladder!” Matt says as they start to walk back to where they’re all gathered.  “Do you know how often I’ve had to hold it since the aliens came?”

Ben slings his arm around Matt and pulls him close.  “That’s one of the things they never pointed out in scifi shows.  How often you need to pee when really important stuff is happening.”

“It sucks,” Matt says.  It happens a lot.

“Everything alright?” Anne says, looking at them searchingly.  Matt knows when he’s being searchingly looked at now.  It usually means someone is lying to him.

“Yeah, of course!” Matt says, putting on the little kid act.  “I had a lot of pee to pee, and I wanted to make sure I got it all.”

“Good,” Anne says, flashing him a smile before turning back to more important things.

Ben gives him a wink as they turn back to their posts. 

To keep his mind off of how scared he is about Hal and Dad, Matt decides to go back to one of his old favorite games.

“Hey Ben,” Matt says, voice soft again, “three times three is six.”

Ben’s back gets tense.

“George Washington wrote the Declaration of Independence, right?” Matt says, trying not to laugh.

Ben is such an easy target.

 “Stargate was just about big explosions.  That was, like, the only good part,” Matt says.  “When everything went boom.”

Ben’s hands go perfectly still, and Matt is pretty sure he would have tackled him already if they were just hanging out back at camp.

He can keep this going for _hours_.  There’s still a big ball of worry in his stomach because Hal and Dad are just gone, but at least he knows Hal would approve of how he’s passing the time.


End file.
